United 787 Dreamliners Take Off May 31: Get in Their Flat Beds

United has added its Dreamliners back to the schedule, which is good news for plane geeks. The FAA grounded United’s 787-8 Dreamliners in January, but they are back on the upcoming flight schedule starting May 31.

The 787 has a host of technological features, which make flying more comfortable. The one I am most anxious to test is the pressurization of the cabin at 6,000 feet, but the bigger windows and quieter ride are great features too.

According to The Points Guy, the first route will be between Denver and Houston. A week and a half later, the plane is unleashed on the longhaul international routes for which it was designed.

Unfortunately United is being extremely stingy with business class award space on the Dreamliner, but I did find space on three routes: Houston to Lagos, Los Angeles to Tokyo, and Los Angeles to Shanghai.

Houston to Lagos

The Dreamliner is scheduled to begin flying from Houston to Lagos on August 1. In the first two months of the Dreamliner’s service, there are business class award seats on six days.

The green days have business (and economy) award seats at the Saver level.

Interestingly, every day where there is one seat in business, there are eight seats available at the Saver price of 60,000 miles each way.

Eight business class beds are available on six days in the first two months.

The good news if you don’t live in Houston or don’t want to go to Lagos is that this flight is easy to connect to on both ends.

The flight leaves Houston at 8:15 PM, so it should be easy to connect to United’s biggest hub from anywhere in the country that day in domestic first class.

And the flight arrives in Nigeria at 2:50 PM the next day. All three of United’s African partners–Egyptair, South African Airways, and Ethiopian–fly from Lagos to their hubs, so there are options throughout Africa. If you want to connect in Africa, united.com is unlikely to pick up a routing via Lagos. Search segment-by-segment, and call United at 800-UNITED-1 to book.

Los Angeles to Tokyo

The Dreamliner also begins to fly Los Angeles to Tokyo on August 1. The 787 has a few business beds available in the next 11 months.

The first is November 26.

When looking at the Los Angeles to Tokyo calendar on united.com, remember that ANA also flies the route, so not all the green and blue days have space on the United 787. They may have space on the ANA flight instead.

The other dates that do have Dreamliner bed space are January 23 and January 30.

This flight isn’t super easy to connect to, but it isn’t impossible either. The 11 AM departure from LAX will allow some connections, and the 4:00 PM arrival in Tokyo will allow connections to evening flights on ANA–United’s Japanese partner.

Los Angeles to Shanghai

The Dreamliner starts flying LAX to Shanghai on August 2, and I see one seat available for the route on September 5. Get it while it’s hot!

Getting the Miles

All three of the routes mentioned in this post cost 60,000 United miles oneway or 120,000 United miles roundtrip, so you need to earn a bundle of United miles to fly them. Luckily it’s pretty easy to earn a big sum of Ultimate Rewards, which can be transferred 1:1 to United miles.

Personal: Sapphire Preferred with 40,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $3,000 in the first three months

United’s 787s take to the skies again starting May 31. Despite 36 beds per aircraft, United has been extremely stingy with award space on the plane’s routes in business class.

Your best bet is Houston to Lagos, and there is a little space on the LAX routes to Asia. If you want to fly the Dreamliner, you’ll need a ton of United miles–or better yet, a ton of Ultimate Rewards:

Application Link: Sapphire Preferred with 40,000 Ultimate Rewards

Application Link: Ink Bold with 50,000 Ultimate Rewards

Bonus

Check out Tahsir’s trip report of flying on a United 787 in BusinessFirst class on its first day in operation.

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Scott Grimmer is a miles aficionado and avid traveler, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and probably currently on the road. He has earned and redeemed tens of millions of miles for himself and others. Traveling in First Class for free, the 28-year-old has been to 70+ countries and had a beer on every inhabited continent.